Crews from Baltimore Gas and Electric and the city fire department were called to the hotel around 8:30 a.m., where they found that a transformer in the basement of the hotel had exploded and caught on fire.

BGE cut off power to the building for a few hours to get inside and check the damage.

"We found out that in fact an electric transformer had exploded and was on fire in a concrete room underground, creating some light smoke," said Fire Department spokesman James Green.

No one was injured and there was no threat of the fire spreading past that concrete room, so the 100 guests and 75 employees were just sheltered in place but were allowed to leave the building.

"We get downstairs and we see all these emergency firemen in the lobby, and we're like, 'OK, I guess this is a little more serious than we thought,'" guest Colin Hayes said.

"I woke up in the morning and I saw the fire brigade on the street, so I was kind of curious as to what's going on," guest Beni Verma said.

The guests were notified about the fire with a note slipped under their door. Most didn't notice much of a disruption, only a slight problem with the water in their rooms.

"They said due to this disruption the water is colored brown, but it did clear up after a few minutes, maybe half an hour to an hour," Verma said.

"There was a little bit of muddy water in the taps. That was primarily it," guest Sunjeet Paur said.

Officials said the fire was caused by an issue with a secondary cable underground.

The guests seemed unfazed by the whole incident.

"You kind of roll with the punches. It is what it is. It's kind of funny when it happens. You don't always think it's going to happen to you," Hayes said.